Odisha pleads Centre to promote coastal shipping, inland navigation

Bhubaneswar: Chief Secretary AP Padhi has requested the Ministry of Shipping to develop coastal shipping and cargo handling infrastructure at the ports at Paradip, Dhamra and Gopalpur. He maintained that development of port infrastructure would add to strength and viability of coastal shipping in the State.

Chief Secretary AP Padhi opined this while inaugurating the national-level workshop on ‘Promotion of coastal shipping and Inland Navigation in India’ here on Thursday. He said development of coastal shipping through the Sagaramala project would reduce congestion on railways and National Highways

Transportation through costal shipping reduces the logistics cost of cargoes and makes the business more competitive. The proposed Sagaramala project would play a vital role in this regard.

“Coastal shipping through Sagarmala project would reduce the logistic cost to a large extent. The project aspires to achieve overall cost saving of Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 crore per annum through reduction of logistics cost for EXIM and domestic cargo,” he said.